What a difference 2 races make! Well, if you win and your closest competitor is a DNF.
Hamilton now stands 59 points clear of Vettel and could clinch the Driver’s Title in Austin, a power race that favors Mercedes over Maranello. If he wins or comes in second and Vettel finishes no better than 6th or 9th respectively it’s champagne time. Indeed if Bottas finishes 2nd and Vettel 8th or lower, Bottas will take over 2nd position in the Driver’s Championship.
On offer will be Pirelli’s 3 softest compounds, Soft, Super Soft, and Ultra Soft. The track runs counter clockwise which is unusual and the new wider tires have led to faster lap times across the board. The grid is Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Ocon, Sainz, Alonso, Perez, and Massa. Verstappen got a 15 place penalty for exceding his engine allowance. Hulkenberg received a 20 place penalty for an engine change, Brendon Hartley a 25 place one and Vandoorne 5 places for the same reason. Stroll and Magnussen each got a 3 place penalty for impeding.
All of which makes no difference really, other than silly season stuff there is little drama left. Barring catastrophic failure or a horrible accident Hamilton is set for his 4th World Championship either here or next race in Mexico City. The question now is about the Scuderia Marlboro implosion and how that will effect the Maranello effort going forward into next season. Fiat has already signaled its unhappiness with the racing program as evidenced by the shakeup that replaced almost all the top team leadership with Fiat executives. This year they seemed close, fielding a car that while distinctly inferior in power seemed to handle much better than the Mercedes. Where do they go from here? Duke it out with Red Bull for also ran?
Bwahhahhahhahhah!
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Author
Vent Hole
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Recon lap
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We race
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Vettel gets the lead at the start
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Hulkenberg done
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Lap 5 of 56
Vettel
Hamilton
Bottas
Ricciardo
Raikkonen
Ocon
Alonso
Sainz
Verstappen
Massa
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Werlein pits
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Werlein stops
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Hartly pits
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Lap 10 of 56
Hamilton
Vettel
Bottas
Ricciardo
Raikkonen
Verstappen
Ocon
Alonso
Sainz
Massa
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Stroll pits
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Ricciardo and Perez pit
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Ocon and Alonso pit
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Lap 15 of 56
Hamilton
Vettel
Bottas
Raikkonen
Verstappen
Sainz
Massa
Kvyat
Grosjean
Vandoorne
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Ricciardo stops. Engine
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Vettel pits
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Grosjean pits
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Kvyat pits
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Bottas pits
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Hamilton pits
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Sainz pits
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Raikkonen pits
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Lap 20 of 56
Verstappen
Hamilton
Vettel
Bottas
Raikkonen
Massa
Ocon
Alonso
Perez
Vandoorne
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Ericsson pits
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Verstappen pits
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Alonso pits again
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Lap 25 of 56
Hamilton
Vettel
Bottas
Raikkonen
Verstappen
Massa
Ocon
Perez
Sainz
Kvyat
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Vandoorne pits
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Alonso done
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Massa pits
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Lap 30 of 56
Hamilton
Vettel
Bottas
Raikkonen
Verstappen
Ocon
Perez
Sainz
Kvyat
Grosjean
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Lap 35 of 56
Hamilton
Vettel
Bottas
Raikkonen
Verstappen
Ocon
Sainz
Perez
Kvyat
Grosjean
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Hartly pits again
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Stroll pits again
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Verstappen pits again
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Vettel pits again
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Lap 40 of 56
Hamilton
Bottas
Raikkonen
Vettel
Verstappen
Ocon
Sainz
Perez
Kvyat
Massa
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Lap 45 of 56
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Bottas
Vettel
Verstappen
Ocon
Sainz
Perez
Kvyat
Massa
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Lap 50 of 56
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Vettel
Bottas
Verstappen
Ocon
Sainz
Perez
Kvyat
Massa
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Bottas pits yet again
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Lap 55 of 56
Hamilton
Vettel
Raikkonen
Verstappen
Bottas
Ocon
Sainz
Perez
Massa
Kvyat
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Final
Hamilton
Vettel
Verstappen
Raikkonen
Bottas
Ocon
Sainz
Perez
Massa
Kvyat